1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a thermal ink jet cartridge which can be inserted in place of an ordinary ink jet cartridge to diagnose and indicate vacuum condition in an ink jet maintenance station of a printer.
2. Description of Related Art
There are no known self-contained portable devices that can quickly ascertain whether a maintenance station vacuum level meets recommended priming specifications. Current testing of maintenance station vacuum requires attaching bulky transducers and chart recorders to the printer and maintenance station. This hook-up requires trained technical personnel and is awkward and time-consuming, both to set-up and to test.
There is a need for a simple, reliable device to portably diagnose vacuum levels in a maintenance station of an ink jet printer. There also is a need for a device that quickly determines vacuum condition within a maintenance station and can be easily operated by a relatively unskilled operator.